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Entry tags:
TEST DRIVE MEME 001
⚰︎ ⍢ ⌲ ⍚ TEST DRIVE MEME:
CONTENT WARNINGS for this game include: monsters, body horror, dub-con, non-con, religion, blood/violence, and marking/branding, loss of autonomy/self, and mental influences.
This log additionally has warnings for: nudity, spiders, waxplay, character death, and references to children in proximity to sexual situations.
✧ ✧ ✧
Welcome to RUBILYKSKOYE — a dark, horror-smut game where player choices will drive a mod-run storyline about the world and its NPCs. For the first round, this test drive serves as characters' arrival into game.
THESE THREADS CAN BE GAME CANON if both players are accepted into the game and agree to it. However, if players who'd prefer to start fresh are welcome to reuse these prompts in their own personal logs upon acceptance into the communities.
If you have QUESTIONS about the test drive prompts, please ask HERE. Questions about the game itself or the general setting should be directed to the FAQ.
FAQ ✧ SETTING ✧ CALENDAR ✧ RESERVES ✧ APPLICATIONS
This log additionally has warnings for: nudity, spiders, waxplay, character death, and references to children in proximity to sexual situations.
Welcome to RUBILYKSKOYE — a dark, horror-smut game where player choices will drive a mod-run storyline about the world and its NPCs. For the first round, this test drive serves as characters' arrival into game.
THESE THREADS CAN BE GAME CANON if both players are accepted into the game and agree to it. However, if players who'd prefer to start fresh are welcome to reuse these prompts in their own personal logs upon acceptance into the communities.
If you have QUESTIONS about the test drive prompts, please ask HERE. Questions about the game itself or the general setting should be directed to the FAQ.
AWAKENING IN PAJAK WOOD
The chirping of partridges in the treetops rouses you. Light barely filters through the canopy, just enough to suggest warmth of the sun. By the time it reaches the forest floor, the daylight has taken on a sickly green tinge. You lie amongst the mosses and ferns, the soil cold and just a little damp on your bare skin. Wherever you were before this moment, whatever you were doing or wearing, when you awaken in this forest, you find yourself naked and helpless as the day you were born.Fortunately, you seem to be alone. The birdsong continues as you sit up and get your bearings — aside from a brief wave of disoriented nausea, you seem to be no worse for wear than you last remember. Amongst gnarled oaks and moss, you see nothing around. No sign of civilization or sentient life. Movement flickers at the corner of your eye, but it's just a curious animal — brave squirrels or lizards who have come to see what stirs in their home.
Then, like the rippling of the horizon at noontime, the ash-gray soil around you undulates. Sea, not earth. Something else has come to greet you — their grey bodies blended in so easily with the floor, but as you stagger to your feet, you see them. Thousands of spiders roll like waves underfoot. They crawl towards you from the darker edge of the forest.
attack
Individuals who attack the spiders will find the small spiders are easy to kill, but the pheromones released by their corpses draw larger spiders in their place. Huge, blood-red spiders the size of hunting dogs drop from the treetops. In addition to their venomous bite, which contains a fast-acting paralytic, these creatures are clever: they will attempt to use their webbing to handicap any trespassers, binding limbs together or to trees. If you're unfortunate to become fully cocooned, you don't have long before this forest will be the last thing you see.
hunt
Any aspiring monster-hunters enterprising enough to try to follow the spiders to their nest will move eastward. This way, the forest grows darker and darker — though the sun never grows warm red-gold with sunset.
In the void, the birdsong is replaced by the click of mandibles and the skitter of many legs, but soon it is impossible to see. Even with the brightest magical light does not reach further than a few inches. The air grows heavy and thick, as if it were not air at all but some more solid mass. Almost like liquid-smoke, it presses down upon you. Slowing your movements. Soon, you cannot move at all.
Turn back while you still can — collapsing out here is dangerous. The void can play tricks on your senses. You may find yourself reliving unhappy memories or hallucinating your worst nightmares.
In the void, the birdsong is replaced by the click of mandibles and the skitter of many legs, but soon it is impossible to see. Even with the brightest magical light does not reach further than a few inches. The air grows heavy and thick, as if it were not air at all but some more solid mass. Almost like liquid-smoke, it presses down upon you. Slowing your movements. Soon, you cannot move at all.
Turn back while you still can — collapsing out here is dangerous. The void can play tricks on your senses. You may find yourself reliving unhappy memories or hallucinating your worst nightmares.
But flee the spiders westward and you will discover that the wood is well-populated with the survival resources that someone might seek — berries bushes and trees bearing stone fruits; sticks and dry leaves to aid in the building of a fire; rocks big enough to fashion into crude weapons; small animals that can be hunted or caught; hike long enough, and you might just find the freshwater stream that runs north-to-south, populated by both poisonous toads and delicious crawdads.
What's more, you may run into others with stories just like yours. Some may have already formed clumsy nudist hiking parties, others may still be naked and confused and processing how they have no memory of how they got here. They all stagger vaguely, as you do, with only the sun for a waymarker — and even that won't last long.
Now is a good time to overcome any hang-ups you have about modesty, as it's going to be a long hike. If you sneak a good look at your new companions, you may four varietals of marks on their bodies. Maybe someone will even point out that you have one, too.
EVERY DAY LIKE THE ONE BEFORE
Hike far enough — or long enough that the sun does go down — and signs of life come into view. The glow of fires and lights, the smooth curve of a stone wall. A town sits at the edge of this wood, a reward to the survivors.The fifty-foot wall of beige stone protecting the town's perimeter has only a single entrance — an iron gate positioned on the southern edge. When you arrive, the gate is already open, welcoming people into town from the winding dirt road. Attentive eyes may note that the road itself bears the mark of many wagon wheels and horse hoofs, but not cars.
guards
The guards grant entry to anyone who attempts a conversation with them. However, if your character is more likely to attempt to sneak in, overcome the guards, or attack them, please reach out HERE.
Inside the wall lies a quaint, historic town with a population around five thousand. The streets are cobbled, and their signs are lit by gas lamp. Wooden shutters protect otherwise open-air windows on the buildings, which are all under three stories with gabled roofs. A number of businesses hug the main street — a clockmaker, a cobbler, a bank — while residential homes sprawl outwards towards the wall. At the far end of the main street, visible about a mile to the north now that the trees and the enormous wall is out of the way, sits a castle with three towers.
No matter what time you pass through the gate, the streets are full of people. The climate of the bustle befits a night market or a busy friday downtown — plenty of people to ogle at your exposed body. But despite any efforts on your part to hide or make excuses, the locals don't seem offended by your nakedness. Even families with children don't gawk or look twice. In fact, the further into town you go, the more you may notice that they all wear revealing clothing that, to your sensibilities, may seem sexually suggestive. Some individuals openly expose their breasts and nipples, while some others may incidentally reveal when they turn around to tend to their errands that their dress is backless — entirely! If anything, they seem to be under the impression that you're naked to participate in the evening's events with the rest of them.
Those still determined to find proper clothing will find that modern clothing stores aren't a thing here. The closest this town has is a tailor's shop, which is closed for religious observance, and a stand in the central marketplace selling scarves and blankets.
Fortunately, the people of the town are very generous! The locals will gladly share what they have with those who ask politely — but those items are as revealing as what they're wearing. You might get a mesh bodysuit or drape outfit. Remember not to be ungracious! it's only appropriate for the occasion.
steal clothing
Anyone unwilling to ask nicely for help could break into someone's house or yard to steal some of their clean laundry. Notably, inside their homes, the people of the town also appear to own some more modest apparel. Be sure to alert us HERE if your character pursues this option.
And what is the occasion? The locals are excited and flattered by any interest in their ordinary weekly prayer: the folks dancing and selling their wares are all offering their energies to give thanks and ask for their god's patronage! The abstractions are all familiar — fertility, harvest, peace. Smalltalk makes them eager to chat and draw you into those festivities — including some ceremonial wax-dripping on the exposed parts of your body!
Anyone who chats at length with the townspeople will gather that the locals feel it's better for the newcomers to dive into the deep-end because, since you'll be settling in here, they expect you'll want to participate down the line. They seem to be under the impression that the new arrivals are a boon from their god.
In addition, many of the locals' choice of clothes reveal the same four types of marks on their bodies as the folx who were wandering out in the wood!
ROOM AND BOARD
Once you're tired out, the locals will help you find a place to stay. The boarding house is several stories tall and spacious, accessible through an embellished iron garden gate and obscured by hanging plants, trees, and vines. 
Beyond the overgrown yard is a bright red door, which opens into a spacious cottage.
The house has clearly been empty for some time — dust has gathered on various furnishings — bedding, sofas, curtains, wooden tables. According to the locals, it has remained empty since its last occupant passed away, and that's all they'll say about that!
Each floor of the house has a shared sitting room, but only the first floor has a kitchen — large enough to support feeding the entire household. Here, a few of the townspeople will help out — they stock the kitchen and help make dinner for the new arrivals.
Get a good night's rest. By the light of day, locals will help get the new arrivals set up on the coal stove with breakfast. You may notice they're dressed in a way you would almost call normal — at least, in a manner befitting 19th century Eastern Europe. As you find your way around town to get your bearings, folks are eager to help you find a place to apply your skills so you can contribute to your new home.
Beyond the overgrown yard is a bright red door, which opens into a spacious cottage. The house has clearly been empty for some time — dust has gathered on various furnishings — bedding, sofas, curtains, wooden tables. According to the locals, it has remained empty since its last occupant passed away, and that's all they'll say about that!
Each floor of the house has a shared sitting room, but only the first floor has a kitchen — large enough to support feeding the entire household. Here, a few of the townspeople will help out — they stock the kitchen and help make dinner for the new arrivals.
finding roommates
Don't spend too much time in the dining room going for seconds, though. You'll want to claim a bedroom quickly because each one only has two full-size beds, and there aren't enough spaces for everyone. The last people upstairs will need to double up to squeeze in. Roommates will not be mod-assigned; players should coordinate directly with one another to determine their living arrangements.
Get a good night's rest. By the light of day, locals will help get the new arrivals set up on the coal stove with breakfast. You may notice they're dressed in a way you would almost call normal — at least, in a manner befitting 19th century Eastern Europe. As you find your way around town to get your bearings, folks are eager to help you find a place to apply your skills so you can contribute to your new home.
Re: Back to the Basics
"Blind gods?" He scoffed slightly as they began their trek through the woods. His steps were sure and steady, guided by the stick at the moment to make sure he could nimbly avoid any obstacles. And then there was the other reason for having a stick in front of him, even if he wasn't blind, he would rather use it to pick out the softest path for this barefoot hike.
"What religion did you come from?"
Re: Back to the Basics
"You got an Ireland where yer from?" Because who the fuck knows?
If this is magic bullshit, there's no way to assume this is Earth as he knows it. It might be a faerie world overlaid or on another plane or something.
Re: Back to the Basics
"You really think we're not on Earth?"
Because, why else would the guy ask a ridiculous question like that? He had heard of plenty of absurd things before, but that was something else altogether.
Re: Back to the Basics
"Fuck, I dunno." It's not like he's claiming anything, one way or the other.
"I think there're a lotta places it could be." He looks for something more concrete.
"Guessin' where you an' me are from ain't exactly neighborin'." Not that it's impossible, by any means. "But we're both here, same time, waves of spiders threatenin'." Sweeney shakes his head.
"Just don't think it's outta the realm of possibility."
Re: Back to the Basics
"Didn't think so. Hangzhou, China," he answered his part of where he was from.
"Revisit that bored gods or aliens concept with me again?" Because, alright, he agreed that something really wonky was going on here and he felt a bit out of his depth. He didn't like that feeling, and although he couldn't be sure the guy next to him wasn't short a few marbles, some things couldn't be explained either.
Re: Back to the Basics
"Pretty sure I was in Illinois." More is starting to come back to him, and so far, it's a bunch of shit he wishes wouldn't.
"Which actually has more gods in it than ya might expect, but I don't know one that'd do anythin' like this."
Re: Back to the Basics
"So not Ireland. Doesn't make it closer to southeastern Asia." He sighed and shook his head, like he sensed his partner was looking behind them. It was what he had been doing all this time using his ears.
"Nothing bigger than a rabbit near us," he informed his companion for both their peace of mind. Even completely blind, Shades was not easy to sneak up on.
"You're a religious guy?" All this talk about gods and all.
Re: Back to the Basics
"Mm." His squint notes that that's not as simple of a question as it should be.
"Have been." In other lives, both worshiper and worshiped. "Been a while since I've done anythin' formal, if that's what yer askin'."
Re: Back to the Basics
"You don't sound like an atheist," was his response. After all, people usually thought of more mundane reasons than supernatural means for an inexplicable event. Humans went with what they were used to, so first reactions were quite telling.
"Stream's just ahead." The noise of running water made hearing for predators harder though, so he hoped his partner has good eyesight.
Re: Back to the Basics
"Ne'er said I was an atheist," he points out. "Ya can b'lieve in gods without bein' religious." A shrug of his shoulder accents the casual nature of the topic.
"Most gods are cunts. I got no reason ta patron their business." Especially when most of them go out of their way to make him the butt of jokes.
Re: Back to the Basics
It wasn't as if he had any better himself.
Not that he disagreed either. Of all the supposed worshipped deities he had the bad luck of meeting, he really hasn't met any that didn't want to kill him somehow.
Re: Back to the Basics
"Coyote, Loki, Kokopelli, Anansi..." He could go on, he supposes, but he feels comfortable in the examples. So he moves on.
"There are, admittedly, fewer of the blind ones. Hod. Plutus." He shrugs a shoulder. "More of 'em only got the one eye." Which is far different, he understands.
Re: Back to the Basics
"You believe in all of them?"
A person didn't need to be religious to believe, but usually they were still selective of what they believed. People didn't believe much in old gods and ancient lore anymore, even less think they would have the power to influence anything in this world.
Re: Back to the Basics
"Don't know if it counts as B'lievin' if ya've met them." He does feel the sudden urge to make a clarification.
"Not all of them; pretty sure the last couple didn't make it ta the States. Or at least've been keepin' a real low profile." Old Gods are hard to sell in the New World on a good day, and those are pretty obscure ones.
Re: Back to the Basics
Here, however, it was enough to even slow his steps for a second.
And he came up with an answer after that.
"You do cosplay?"
Re: Back to the Basics
"What the fuck's 'cosplay'?"
Because maybe he has. He's done a lot of weird shit to get a woman to take her clothes off. Or leave them on, but still fuck him.
Re: Back to the Basics
"You know..." His hand gestured vaguely in the air beside him. Not coming up with the words, he deflated. "... Or maybe you don't know."
A second later, he started walking again, no point in standing still while being puzzled, he could do that while walking. "I'll admit, I haven't a clue what you mean then."
Re: Back to the Basics
"Which part's givin' you the hard time?"
He's not completely ignorant of how discussing deities on casual terms can be rough if the other is a human, but it's just a mundane part of Sweeney's life, and he has no reason to hide it.
Re: Back to the Basics
He slapped at a mosquito on his hip, reflexes incredibly fast given his lack of sight and grimaced when he felt a smear of blood under his fingers. Fast but not fast enough.
"And since we're having such an honest conversation here, I can't decide on which is worse either. Given current lousy circumstances and all."
Re: Back to the Basics
It's not like he's the poster child for sanity. But he is functional a lot of the time, so it could be worse. Pretty much always, like the realization that he can't prove what he's about to say as easily as he could have if this place hadn't cut his Hoard off cold turkey.
"But I ain't a fanatic. Just spent too many years an' too many miles in the company of cunts. One in particular, but I ain't guessin' names are gonna make it any more likely yer gonna believe me."
Which is alright by Sweeney. He's not going to force acceptance on a stranger.
Re: Back to the Basics
Regardless of what Shades secretly thought of Sweeney, he wasn't treating the stranger any differently nor did he change his seemingly carefree attitude. He didn't seem to be paying special attention from any sign of distrust either, but that was because he never really trusted Sweeney right from the start.
"But nope. You're right, it's not. Because you would have to be something special to warrant having met all those gods," For the purpose of argument this was assuming they exist to begin with, "And you being stuck here as naked as lil' ol' me is not very convincing of your logic, my friend."
During their chat, they had finally come upon the stream.
Re: Back to the Basics
"Well, some of us were stripped of more than our clothes," he notes casually, his focus shifting to the water. Sweeney's pace picks up so he can close the distance and see what they're working with, not mindful of finishing the thought before doing so.
Re: Back to the Basics
A moment later Shades was patting his torso down. "I'm not cut open and have my organs stolen, am I?" Unlikely, unless he was on some major pain killers that made him as blind to pain as his eyes currently were.
He stopped at the edge of the stream. "What do you see? Any idea which way to go?"